November 16, 2017

Impossible to Officiate

The Al Franken sexual harassment revelation (not a surprise at all), comes on the heels of Tuesday's testimony that the U.S. House has shelled out about $15 million in sexual harassment lawsuit settlements in the past decade. Your tax dollars at work!!!

After Judge Roy Moore's travails became widely known, possibly sinking his candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, House Speaker Paul Ryan ordered mandatory sexual harassment training for all House members. The Senate also voted to implement such training. But that's kind of like preaching the virtues of chastity to randy young men entering the Playboy mansion.

The fact is, many politicians regard the "hanky-panky" as one of the perks of the job. And let's face it, a large percentage of Democrats are secular progressives, and their libertine sexual views may come back to bite them big-time. We might be going down a wild, twisting, turning road, not knowing where it will lead.

A college basketball analogy, if you don't mind: A frequent complaint among fans is how the officials call fouls. Some refs nitpick and nail defenders for simply touching a guard while he's dribbling around the perimeter. Yet these same referees may well let go a lot of rough contact close to the basket as players jockey for position and fight for rebounds. Other refs might let the ticky-tacky fouls go, but throw the book at defenders making body contact while fighting for a rebound or attempting to block a shot. Several players might end up fouling out.

Inconsistency seems to be a frequent problem. Players of greatly varying heights and weights who exhibit different playing styles, and unpredictable game tempos often make officiating fairly a daunting task. I foresee a similar challenge for the congressional sexual harassment police in the coming years. A lot of he-said-she-said situations will undoubtedly arise.

Most basketball fans would admit, if you really pressed them on it, that a LOT of body contact takes place in most every game, from the opening tip to the final buzzer. If all fouls were called, neither team would have enough players to finish the game. Many of them would have fouled out. Let's just say the House and Senate would have a helluva time making quorum if all of the sexual "fouls" are called as Ryan and the Senate leadership hope they are, and the violators are ousted.

Hey Congress: Want greater accountability? Hope to project an image of integrity rather than sleaze? Be careful what you wish for; it may well be more than you bargained for.